Bayern Munich have activated the €58 million release clause of Nico Williams, according to Fichajes.
The Spanish outlet reports that the German giants have agreed to pay the minimum fee release clause in the Athletic Bilbao star’s contract.
Bayern are in the market for a top-class winger this summer and have now made Williams their top target.
Williams to Bayern?
This comes as bad news for Arsenal, who had until now been leading the race for Williams.
Williams is Arsenal’s top target this summer to strengthen their wide areas.
FootballTransfers recently confirmed that the Gunners were in talks with Williams’ representatives and had been put into pole position for the deal by their new sporting director Andrea Berta.
Arsenal would be happy to trigger Williams’ release clause in his Athletic contract if they table a bid but his high wage demands have made negotiations over personal terms tricky.
Barcelona also wish to sign Williams but their financial situation makes a deal difficult.
Arsenal and Barcelona were in a two-way tussle to sign Williams last summer but the player eventually stayed at Athletic Bilbao.
Barca had been particularly desperate to sign the Athletic winger last summer but were unable to complete a deal for the same financial reasons.
It has long since been claimed that Williams would ideally rather join Barca if that move is still on the table.
Chelsea and Liverpool have also been linked to the winger but Bayern now lead the race.
Williams at Euro 2024
Williams was one of the stars of Euro 2024 with electric performances as Spain won the trophy.
He scored in the 2-1 final win over England and was one of the players of the tournament.
His best performance was arguably against Italy where he tore apart the right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo and set up the winner – an own goal by Riccardo Calafiori.
He also scored a fantastic goal in the win over Georgia in the last-16.
The 22-year-old Williams is considered one of the most exciting young wingers in all of Europe.
Blessed with lightning pace and dribbling skills, he has a promising future in the game.
After making his debut for Athletic in 2021, Williams has scored 31 goals in 164 games.
He has also scored five goals in 26 games for Spain, and travelled to the 2022 World Cup.
This season he has 11 goals in 44 games.
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